The Warrior from Kokkedal
It is interesting that the recent find of a high status burial at Kroppedal , Sjælland had a skull wound which appears to be an arrow wound that was limited in its penetration by a helmet even though helmets are very rare as finds from that period, the Roman Iron Age, and none is found with the burial.
The Kroppedal skeleton also shows evidence of multiple wounds as would have been inflicted on an overwhelemed warrior. A summary of the man's fate is as follows:
He was riding into battle; He was hit by an arrow in the head which did not penetrate more than superficially -
perhaps because he had a helmet on;
He was still in the saddle when he was hit in the lower leg with an up-swinging blow;
He was hit on the left side of the head level with his ear by a blade which chipped the skull, possibly after falling from the saddle but still upright and hit by a right-handed opponent;
He was hit hard across the top of the skull with a sword or axe, possibly because he was now prone and unable to defend himself, and this blow not only penetrated the skull but cracked the skull almost the whole way round;
He fell unconscious and died almost immediately. The complete account can be read HERE .
He was hit on the left side of the head level with his ear by a blade which chipped the skull, possibly after falling from the saddle but still upright and hit by a right-handed opponent;
He was hit hard across the top of the skull with a sword or axe, possibly because he was now prone and unable to defend himself, and this blow not only penetrated the skull but cracked the skull almost the whole way round;
He fell unconscious and died almost immediately. The complete account can be read HERE .
